


Gingerbread Palaces

by Omnivorous_Reader



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Candy, Christmas songs, Cooking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, Gingerbread Houses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-04 01:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omnivorous_Reader/pseuds/Omnivorous_Reader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A supervillain and a superhero have put their differences away for one simple goal: to make the greatest gingerbread house ever made. With the help of magic and music, can these two polar opposites reach their goal?</p><p>Or, Loki pops in on Tony, demanding that he help make a gingerbread house with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gingerbread Palaces

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This story was meant to come out on Christmas, but it's late. Sorry.  
> I did mess around with the timeline of The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World. Everything that happened with Jane happened a lot sooner than it did in the movies. Also, this wasn't betad, so sorry about any mistakes.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Hallmark channel, any candy brands mentioned, nor any of the Marvel characters (there would be more cuddling if I did)  
> Enjoy!

It was a regular day at the newly named Avenger Tower. Steve Rogers had gone off saving puppies stuck in wells and getting old grannies across the street. The two resident assassins gone on a classified mission, which actually meant they were doing secret paperwork. Thor, the god of thunder himself, was off playing babysitter for his girlfriend’s friend’s nephew; yeah we don’t know he was roped into it either. Bruce and the Other Guy were spending some quality time with some ‘legal’ marijuana. And Tony? Well, Tony was celebrating the holidays the only way he knew how.

Bringing out the Christmas cheer just a little too early; it was only a week away. After stopping by his personal bar, picking up his old friend Jack Daniels, one Anthony Edward Stark collapsed onto his couch. Groaning at the feel of the leather, Tony practically melted into the piece of furniture. When was the last time he had gotten sleep? Oh, right, thirty-one hours ago. Meh, no pain, no gain, Tony thought, cracking open his favorite scotch.

Drinking right of bottle, too cool for a tumbler, Tony looked out the windows, thinking of the holidays. This would be the first Christmas the team would celebrate together. Just a few months ago they were all strangers, fighting for a single cause. Phil Coulson. Who, after they captured Loki, was perfectly fine. Tony’s knuckles turned white from holding the bottle too tightly. The team still hadn’t really forgiven Fury for that one, and they probably never would.

Shaking his head, Tony took a large swig of Christmas cheer. This was a time to celebrate, not to dwell on the past. And talking about the past, why was Tony staring at Loki? 

Just a minute ago the billionaire had been imagining ways to ruin Fury’s Christmas, when suddenly, one Norse god of mischief was standing over him.

“Can I help you, Dasher?” Okay, maybe he had a little too much Christmas cheer, since he wasn’t screaming for help.

“Must you call me such ridiculous names, Stark?” If Tony had been sober, he would have called for backup at this time, but since he wasn’t sober, he couldn’t stop the sarcasm from exiting his mouth.

“What? You’re a reindeer, right? So, why aren’t you with Santa? Did he kick you off his team because you killed the rest of the reindeer? ” Tony slurred, gulping down a fourth of the scotch in his hands.

“Contrary to popular belief, I am not here to fight, Stark.” Another exasperated sigh was pulled from the god’s lips. And before Tony could even register that Loki had moved, the bottle in his hand was gone and he had two freezing hands on either side of his face.

“What the fuck?!” Tony yelled, jerking his head out of hands that had to belong to a dead person. The cold from Loki’s hands started to spread from Tony’s face, from his temple, clearing his mind from the haze the alcohol had made. Glaring up at the god, Tony was met with a big smirk. “What the hell was that? Wait…did-did you make me sober?!”

Loki merely let his smirk turn into a large grin, showing too many teeth. “I am glad that you live up to your title of being a genius.”

Tony growled. This was his Tower. HIS! If he wanted to get flat out drunk in the middle of day, then he would. No one could make him sober if he didn’t want to be. His tower, his rules. Everyone knew this; but it seemed the god hadn’t gotten the memo. Scrambling up off couch, Tony tried to put them at the same eye level, even if Loki was a few inches taller than him. Shoving his finger in Loki’s face, he started his extremely thought out speech.

“Listen here, you little piece of-”

“Stark. Although I love our exchange of banter, I have come here with a purpose.” The villain spoke clearly, as if talking to a slow child. Scrunching up his nose (which was not adorable in the least), Loki slapped the offending appendage out of his face.

“Oh, then by all means, finish your glorious purpose and get your ass out of my tower!”  
Tony was beyond upset and was entering furious. Who did this prick think he was, interrupting Tony like that?

“My purpose, Stark, is to learn about Midgardian culture.” Well, if that statement didn’t cause all of Tony’s thoughts to come to a screaming stop, Tony didn’t know what would.

“Could you repeat that?”

“You heard me, Stark.”

“Wait, just a few months ago, you were preaching about mortals being ants. And now you want to learn about our culture?! By the way, why aren’t you in a straight jacket, safely tucked away in a cell for the next thousand years?!” Tony was officially freaking out. Oh dear lord, this was so much simpler when he was drunk.

“Stark, shut up.” Loki snapped, efficiently making the genius speechless. For probably the first time in his life, Tony fucking Stark, Iron Man, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, followed that order. With his mouth firmly shut, Tony finally really looked at the trickster; and couldn’t believe his eyes.

Standing in front of him was not the Loki he had met only six months. That Loki had been wearing one of the most complicated leather outfits in history. And the most pretentious helmet, making Doom’s and Magneto’s helmets seem appropriate. But this Loki. He was donning black slacks, fluffy, neon green socks, and one of the ugliest Christmas sweaters Tony’s ever seen. It was black, no surprises there, with an extremely gaudy Christmas tree; the decorations on the tree were made out of fuzz and the star and presents even had glitter on them.

“Umm… Rudolph? What the fuck are you wearing?” Were the only words that could come out of Tony’s mouth at the moment.

“Although this idea may be a surprise to you, I am wearing clothes.”

Tony glared at the god, who looked way too smug with his response. “Thanks for that information, maybe I should try to do that some time.”

“They are much more comfortable than a metal suit.” Loki shrugged. Tony narrowed his eyes, realizing that this was getting him nowhere. They could go back and forth for hours, and although Tony liked to banter with someone who could keep up with his intellect, he really didn’t want the god in his tower.

“Look, lets stop beating around the bush. What are you here for?” Keeping it short and sweet.

“I wish to make a gingerbread house,” the god replied, as if this was a natural request to make to an enemy. The god didn’t even look ashamed. He was standing up straight, arms crossed, looking like he owned the place and still thought it wasn’t worth his time.

“Ok... Well, I’m just going to call the men in white coats,” Tony started backing up slowly, not wanting to be near the god that had to be going crazy, well, more crazy than before. 

As the genius’ foot made contact with the floor in his first step backwards, Loki was behind him, making it so Tony’s heel was touching the god’s sock covered toes. “Stark, I don’t think you understand the situation that you are in.” Tony felt the god’s breath as he whispered in his ear. Tony definitely didn’t shiver from the cool air.

“Then explain it to this simple mortal.” He said, equally as quiet as the god.

“We are going to create this treat, you are not going to call your little heroes, and you most certainly won’t complain.” The last part was growled, making Tony’s breath hitch. 

“Or else what?”

“Tis not a ‘what else’ situation, more of a what you could receive in return situation.” The god purred.

“And what would I receive?” Tony breathed, too quiet for any human to hear, but he wasn’t dealing with a human. Loki was silent for a moment before Tony felt a warm tongue trace the shell of his ear, followed by sharp teeth nibbling on his ear. All fear flew out his mind, dirty thoughts and fantasies taking its place.

“Now, I would like to start those treats before we do anything else, Stark.” With that last whisper, Tony felt the god disappear, just realizing how close he had been.

Reappearing in his original spot, Loki’s smirk was back, the smugness ten times stronger than before. Extending his arm out, he motioned for Tony to lead the way to kitchen. Throwing a glare at Loki, the genius stomped into the kitchen that only a billionaire would own. But his eyes widened from seeing what was there. All over the cooking area, were buckets of flour, different types of jars of sugar, a few dozen little containers of spices, cartons of eggs, and a big jar of molasses. There were giant bowls with spoons of every size. And the god wanted Tony to teach him how to make gingerbread houses? It seemed like the god had everything under control.

“Sure we have enough ingredients?” Tony snipped. Loki merely walked by him, picking up one of the big bowls, handing it to Tony, who raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t like being handed things,” he stated, gauging what the god’s reaction would be. Loki gave him an unimpressed look before placing the bowl precariously on top of his head. Smirking, the god turned back to the ingredients, ignoring the genius’s shocked face. 

“I shall mix the liquid ingredients, while you mix the dye ones,” picking up a piece of paper that was laying next to the containers of spices, Loki walked back to Tony, and place the paper in the bowl, that was still sitting on top of his head. “Jarvis, could you be a dear and put on some music?”

“Of course, Mr. Silvertongue. Do you have any preferences?” The AI promptly responded. 

“Generic Christmas songs.” 

Tony couldn’t believe his ears. Was his personal butler, who had personally made, taking commands from Loki?! Snatching the bowl off his head, Tony yelled, “Jarvis! What the hell?! Why are you answering him?”

“You yourself created me to serve, and I deemed Mr. Silvertongue’s request as innocent and easy to fulfill.” The construct quipped back at Tony.

“Why in God’s name did I create such a sarcastic AI?” Tony mumbled to himself.

“I was created to make your life easier and more entertaining.” Jarvis dutifully answered.

“That was rhetorical,” Tony growled toward the ceiling. Usually Tony didn’t mind Jarvis’s wit, but when he was conspiring with Loki against him, that was where he drew the line.

“I like him,” Loki helpfully added.

“Shut up,” Tony snapped, which made the god’s smirk grow. ‘White Christmas’ started playing as the hero and villain started mixing the ingredients for the gingerbread dough. Neither said anything the whole time they worked; Tony would follow the recipe, not making any mistakes since he was a genius, and handing the mixed ingredients to Loki. Without uttering a word, the god would pour the dry mix with the rest of the batter he had created. They went through this routine, listening to ‘Jingle Bells’ to ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’, absolutely no words crossing their lips.

Only when all of the ingredients were turned into batter and laid out, ready to be cut into their respective shapes. Loki held out several cookie cutters, that seemed to appear out of thin air. Tony crossed his arms, looking the god in the eyes, showing his defiance of taking the items. Letting out a huff of breath, Loki slammed the cutters onto the counter next to the dough.

“You will be cutting out the shapes of the roofs and walls,” Loki stated, his voice leaving no room to argue.

“How many?”

“Until you run out of dough.” Turning to the kitchen island, Loki went to work on making the smaller structures for the gingerbread house. Staring at the false Aesir working, Tony couldn’t wrap his mind around the situation. Loki had popped in on him, demanding to build gingerbread houses, stating that he wanted to learn about human culture. But, here was the god, creating it like he had been for years. Deciding to let what ever was happening to continue, Tony turned his portion of the dough, which could be described only as ‘a shit ton’.

“Hey, Lokes. How many of the large walls, and everything else do you want?” Tony questioned. Hearing a thoughtful hum, Tony felt a strong, solid chest press against his back. In his baritone British voice, the god listed off the amounts, surprising the billionaire. Seriously, this house was going to become a mansion at this rate.

Once again, silence reigned over the two, letting ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’ fill the kitchen. While doing the mindless work of cutting out shapes, Tony let his mind wonder. What was Loki offering? Far too many ideas came to Tony; shaking his head, he thought about why the god wanted to make gingerbread houses. It wasn’t like the treat was anything spectacular, unless the god had a big sweet tooth. Chancing a glance over his shoulder, Tony observed Loki. He was surprised at the small smile that graced the porcelain face, and how the god didn’t even notice the mess that covered his elegant fingers. The god never struck him to be the cooking type, but here he was, making a generic Christmas treat, and enjoying himself.

Finishing his portion of the shapes, Tony made sure there was only a small amount dough left that he couldn’t use. Strolling over to Loki, Tony placed the last of his dough next to Loki’s. The god ignored him as he leisurely sauntered behind him. Tony rested his chin on the god’s shoulder, he only had to stretch his neck a little thank you very much, and watched the god unhurriedly cut out the rest of his shapes. After a few moments of this, Tony loosely wrapped his arms around the god.

Expecting his arms to be cut off with the cookie cutters, Tony was pleasantly surprised that the god actually leaned into him. With a triumphant smile, the genius strengthened his hold, enjoying the pleased hum he received in return. The two stayed like this, listening to ‘Little Drummer Boy’ as Loki continued to make all sort of windows and smaller roofs that Tony hadn’t done. Quietly, trying not to break the comfortable atmosphere, Tony asked:

“Why are you here, Lokes? And don’t give me the ‘making gingerbread houses’ shit.”

The god sighed, but didn’t stop his movements, “Thor’s mortal lover touched something she shouldn’t have, and to make a long tale short, I had to fix everything and got the opportunity to redeem myself in Thor’s eyes.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Thor convinced Odin that I would only redeem myself completely if I had a chance to see the good in mortals. That is how I ended up here on Midgard, watching poor excuses of what you mortals deem entertainment.”

Tony snorted at the thought of Loki watching daytime TV. “So, big brother fixed everything, huh? How long have you been here? Thor mentioned the elf invasion, but nothing about you.”

“I asked him not to tell any mortals of my exile and I am surprised that he has kept that promise.” The god didn’t try to hide his contempt for the god of thunder.

“You know, he really does care for you, the least you could do is try to mend your guys’ relationship.” Tony said, trying to sound nonchalant. But even with his carefree tone, the god stiffened in his arms.

“You know nothing of our ‘relationship’, mortal,” the trickster spit, but didn’t push Tony away. Tony couldn’t argue with that; it was true, he didn’t know anything about what happened with Thor and Loki, just that Loki found out he was adopted. And knowing the gods, there definitely had to be more to the story. So, Tony tried to change topics.

“So, oh god of mischief, what kind of mortal entertainment have you been indulging in?”

“The Hall of Mark.” Loki smoothly told him, once again relaxing into his hug.

“Hallmark?! Really Lokes? I thought you would be watching something more… realistic,” Tony was shocked, no wonder the god wanted to build gingerbread houses watching those sappy movies. The only answer Tony received was a shrug. Rolling his eyes, Tony stayed quiet, letting the god work. ‘Silver Bells’ came on as the god finished his part of the gingerbread parts.

Loki started moving, forcing Tony to let him go, which most definitely didn’t make Tony miss the god’s warmth. Watching the god collect his pieces for the house, Tony realized that the dough had to be baked.

“Hey, Rudolph, I don’t think we have enough oven space for everything to bake all at once.”

“Tis why we are not going to use the oven, Stark.” Watching Loki rearranging all of the gingerbread dough pieces to fit on the island, Tony wondered why the god didn’t put the dough on cookie pans, instead of keeping them on the cutting boards he had been using. 

“Um, babe, I don’t want to tell you how to do this, but, you’re doing it wrong.”

“I fully know what I am doing,” the god easily said, before checking that all of the dough was there. With fascination, Tony watched Loki put his hands less than a foot above the dough, letting green wisps of magic leave his hands. The magic became a sheet, hovering over the raw dough, before it slowly started to turn red. Like rain, the magic started to fall onto the dough, causing it to harden, and turn a darker brown. Tony couldn’t believe his eyes; the god had just cooked all of the dough in less than a minute. 

“I don’t know if I would call that cool, or extremely lazy,” Tony said, looking at the now baked gingerbread. “Doing this won’t make it taste funky, will it?” 

“No, it will taste perfectly fine,” Loki snorted. “Now, let us get to greatest part of creating this treat.” Loki grinned, extending his arm in front of his body, hand open. Slowly spinning in circle, more magic flowing out of his palm. As he turned, the empty containers disappeared being replaced by smaller containers of several different types of candy. Little tubs of gumdrops to sticks of gum to licorice, every type of hard, sour, and sweet candy was laying on the kitchen counters. Turning back to Tony, Loki was wearing the biggest smile he had seen on the god. “Let the fun begin.”

Handing Tony a tube of frosting, Loki started instructing the billionaire on how to connect the walls, and start the foundation. The two worked well together; Tony created the foundation, while Loki started adding towers to the main structure. Tony couldn’t help but be amazed at how the god would have a flat piece of gingerbread, and slowly bend it to be curved, without breaking it. He fully accused Loki of breaking physics.

For the rest of the time the two were building the gingerbread, which couldn’t really be considered a house anymore, they bickered about magic and science. Loki claimed that science was just the building blocks to magic, while Tony demanded proof of this statement. This led to Tony’s first real lesson in magic, and if he had his way, it wouldn’t be his last. When they had finished the construction, Loki announced with another blinding smile that they could start decorating. Tony was quickly discovering that he loved that smile.

“I would like you to follow this image. I will do the rest if you could decorate the windows.” Tony was going to object to not being trusted to do anything else, but he looked at the gingerbread house (palace) and just noticed how many windows were on it. Deciding that he did in fact have enough work, so he didn’t complain (too much). Looking to Loki for the picture he mentioned, he saw that the god had made a sort of hologram. 

It was made of golden magic, not like the green that Loki normally used. Was there a correlation between the type of spells and their color? The hologram was palace that was made of giant pillars, extremely high windows, and in the shape of a pyramid. It was extremely garish, and a perfect example of how much the rich could waste money, Tony included. Glancing over to their gingerbread palace, he was surprised that they had gotten it to be almost an exact copy of the hologram.

“You’ve really outdone yourself, Rudolph.” Tony praised.

“We are not finished yet, Stark,” the god chuckled, picking up the frosting and several types of candy, beginning his part of the work.

‘Silent Night’ was the only sound in the kitchen until it changed over to ‘Santa is coming to Town’. It was slow work, but Tony really couldn’t find anything wrong with it; it was relaxing. Occasionally he would look up to watch the god, to see Loki smiling softly, steadily adding frosting and candy, making the palace really look like a gingerbread palace. Seeing the god like this made Tony think. Was this really the guy who attacked New York just a few months ago? 

Stopping to stare at the trickster, Tony examined him closely. He looked much healthier; his face was fuller, the skin wasn’t a sickly white, but he was still too pale to be considered healthy. Tony also noticed that Loki’s hair was still slicked back, but it was longer, showing off his curls. Noticing that Tony was no longer working, the god looked up, raising a manicured eyebrow, his emerald eyes silently questioning him. That’s when it hit Tony: Loki had green eyes. Not the electric blue they had been during the Battle of New York.

“You were mind-controlled during the invasion, weren’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question. Loki didn’t look him in the eyes, but nonetheless gave a small nod before going back to adding frosting. Tony stared at him, but didn’t push the subject, understanding that the god didn’t want to discuss it, probably more so with his enemy. ‘Frosty the Snowman’ started to play, filling the silence between the two, but the tension stayed.

As he continued to decorate the windows, a myriad of questions came to Tony’s mind. Did Thor know about Loki being mind-controlled? Has Loki told anyone? What would this change? Nothing? Everything? Could Loki be forgiven, and be able to completely redeem himself? Maybe join the Avengers? Tony desperately wanted to ask all of these questions and more, but he could tell by Loki’s stiff shoulders, that he would soon have the answers when fish walked on land.

Even though it was against his nature, Tony stayed quiet and finished working on the windows. Realizing that he was done with his job, he stepped back to admire it. The windows looked like ones found in churches, with different colors of frosting making them have the illusion of images, and little chocolate beads acting like Christmas lights. Walking around the kitchen island, Tony admired his part of the palace. It look just like the hologram, but with more… candy. He stopped when he got behind Loki, who was slightly bent, putting peppermints at the base. Deciding that the god really didn’t mind, Tony once again wrapped his arms around Loki’s waist, firmly pulling his back against his chest. Loki gave a quiet chuckle, but mainly ignored Tony’s snuggling, who didn’t really have a reason why he wanted to cuddle the god. Loki just gave off this air that Tony interpreted as an invitation to cuddle him.

‘Jingle Bell Rock’ started playing as the billionaire watched the trickster finish the palace. It was truly a piece of art. While the base was more boxy, the rest was made of cylindrical towers, with the roofs being slanted, almost looking like they were connected. The frosting connecting all of the pieces was uniform, not a single drop looking out of place. All of the gates were made of candycanes, with the curved parts snapped off, making all of the canes the same size. Around the base were the peppermints, with red licorice on top of it. On top of each tower was a different type of candy; Hershey kisses, gumdrops, jellybeans, crushed up oreos, mints, even candy corn.

Tony had tried to be creative and diverse in how he had made his windows. The bigger windows were created with several different colors, with hard candies surrounding them. The smaller ones had windowsills under them also created out of hard candies, with either black or yellow frosting to make them look like they had light or no light in them. Loki was using the window’s designs to his advantage by making elaborate signs around the windows, that would connect with the designs that came down from the roofs. The designs consisted with swirls, crisscrosses, and dots that surrounded other candies that were places on the sides of the towers. Some of the roofs’ frosting made it look like it was drizzling down, but in a controlled way.

Going around the towers were licorice, frosting, and lines of candies that made stripes, covering the bare towers. All along the bottom was green frosting and m&m’s creating overgrown vines that crawled up the base and many towers. The green frosting was also used to create bushes around the palace with little red chocolate beads acting as roses. On the towers were even balconies with tootsie rolls and black licorice acting as rails. There were Hershey kisses on the balconies with the green frosting that were acting as potted plants. 

Observing the whole palace, Tony once again felt the need to contribute more to creating it; he had only done the windows for Christ’s sake! The palace looked amazing, proving that Loki really did know gingerbread houses better than Tony. Hugging Loki tighter, he pouted, just slightly jealous.

“Almost done?” He asked, wondering what else the god could do.

“Just have to add the snow and trees,” Loki answered stepping back, forcing Tony to release him. The god grabbed a container of shredded coconut and sprinkled it over the frosting that he had already smoothed over the ground around the palace. Tony noticed that the whole gingerbread palace was sitting on a big piece of wood. He wondered when Loki had switched the cutting boards for it; damn magic. The god also used magic to make plastic trees to appear in his hands, fully decorated like the common Christmas tree.

Once all of the trees were placed, both the hero and villain stepped back to admire the Christmas treat, which could only be described as a piece of art. Loki gave a pleased hum before strolling back to the palace, four clear stones appearing in his hand. He placed one at each corner of the piece of wood holding the palace, when the stones were all placed, Loki waved his hand over the palace, letting his magic flow over it. A transparent box was created over the palace, the same color as Loki’s magic. When the box was created, it stayed like that before it flashed, blinding Tony, covering the whole room in a green light. 

“What the hell was that?!” Tony yelled, rubbing at his eyes. Opening his them, he saw Loki picking the stones up, that were now brown with specks of every color in them. He walked back to Tony, presenting them to him. 

“These are Copy Stones.” He said, the only explanation needed. Staring down at them, Tony saw that the colors matched the gingerbread palace.

“Did you copy the gingerbread palace?!” Tony tried to snatch the stones out of Loki’s hands, but they disappeared, leaving a disappointed Tony in their wake. “Wait, did you make an actual copy, or a hologram of it?”

“It is an actual copy, with taste and all.” The god confirmed, smirking at Tony’s astonishment. “I will leave the real gingerbread house with you, but it would be a shame if I did not take some kind of share.”

“Do I get the credit for making this simple house?” Tony quipped. 

“But of course! You were an important part to its creation,” Loki replied, admiring the palace again. Tony looked at it, then to the hologram, comparing the two.

“It’s a replica of Asgard’s palace, right?” Tony asked gently, trying not to upset Loki.

“Yes, out of all the palaces in the Nine Realms, Asgard’s is the greatest. I also spent the longest time in Asgard’s, being raised there,” the god answered, his voice staying light, not an ounce of bitterness showing through. Silence fell between them, Jarvis had shut off the music when the palace had been finished. After a few moments, Loki announced, “I should be going, let you get back to destroying the few brain cells that you posses.”

“Not before I get my payment for helping you,” Tony demanded, facing Loki, with only a few inches between them. Smirking up at the taller man, Tony placed his hands on Loki’s hips, pulling him flush against his chest.

“Hmm, well, I suppose I should keep my end of the bargain, wouldn’t want others to think I can not keep a promise.” Loki whispered, leaning down until their noses were almost touching, their breath mixing. He gently brushed his lips against Tony’s, almost shyly. Deciding that Loki wouldn’t take the initiative, Tony carefully placed his lips on Loki’s, moving them slowly. Loki was hesitant, but after a moment he responded with vigor; his lips were pleasantly soft as he moved them at the same pace as Tony. Wanting to go further, Tony gently nipped at his bottom lip, asking for permission to enter his warm mouth. 

Loki opened his mouth without hesitation, his tongue tangling with Tony’s. It wasn’t a fight for dominance, but an exploration of each other’s cavern. Loki tasted of mint and chocolate, with a hint of spice, which quickly became Tony’s new favorite taste. Snaking one of his hands to tangle in Loki’s hair, his other arm wrapped around Loki’s waist, trying to get him even closer to Tony. Loki moaned into the kiss, and began to kiss back even harder, using his teeth to bite lightly at Tony’s lips. But after a few more moments, they had to pull away to regain their breath.

Tony stared up at the god, proud that he caused such a reaction on the deity. Loki’s lips were red and swollen, a blush tinting his high cheeks. Still panting, Tony tried to pull him back down, to encourage the god to go further, but Loki stepped out of his arms, shaking his head.

“Apologizes, but I have to take my leave, I have another appointment. Until next time, Stark,” Loki said, giving him an apologetic smile before blinking out of existence. Tony stood there, his mind not processing what had just happened. His shoulders slumped in defeat, before he processed what the god had said. Next time. Loki had said there would be a next time.

Smiling, Tony wandered back into the living room, thinking about all the things he wanted to do with/to the trickster god. Dropping onto the couch for the second time that day, Tony realized that he wasn’t tired, or really in the mood to crack open more Christmas cheer. Instead, he picked up the remote and turned on Hallmark, to discover what had caused the Loki to want to make gingerbread houses.

A few hours later, and a few classic Hallmark movies, the rest of the Avengers arrived back. The first were Clint and Natasha, who came through the elevator doors bickering.

“Come on, Nat! It was your turn! I did it last time,” Clint whined. Jumping onto the couch, shoving Tony’s legs off to make room for himself.

“Nope, it was your turn, and don’t try to deny it,” Natasha said, exasperated by Clint’s behavior. “Tony, what are you watching?”

“Hallmark.”

Clint wrinkled his nose. “Why are you watching that? It’s just a bunch of love-sick idiots.”

“Hey! Some of these movies are actually good!” Tony said in the movies’ defense. 

“You have to admit that it isn’t that realistic, Tony,” Natasha said, gracefully sitting down in the love seat.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s still nice to think that some of the stories could be true,” Tony sighed. They sat and watched as the current couple on the TV forgave each other for some mundane fight. When the next movie started, the elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of the next Avenger.

“What are we watching?” The one and only Captain America asked.

“Hallmark.” The other three Avengers answered simultaneously.

“Which is what?”

“A channel devoted to the idea of love,” Natasha answered without any judgment.

Steve nodded before sitting down and watching the new couple meet each other in a very awkward way. Unbenounced to the other Avengers, they had unfortunately gotten the good captain hooked to the Hallmark channel. After about twenty minutes of seeing the woman being clumsy around the man, the elevator dinged again. 

“Come friend Bruce! I am sure friend Steve has made a sort of substance for us!” Thor’s booming voice over powered the TV’s, alerting everyone to who had just arrived.

“Got the munchies?” Tony smirked at Bruce, who smiled sheepishly, giving a small nod.

“I’m sure I can whip something up,” Steve said, standing and headed for the kitchen.

“I think we should all help, just to make sure something doesn’t burn,” Natasha joked, ignoring Steve’s pouting face. As all of the Avengers made their way to the kitchen, Tony couldn’t help the grin that was growing on his face.

He heard several gasps, an ‘Oh my god’ and ‘By the norns’. The rest of the Avengers were greatly shocked by the gingerbread palace, and Tony relished their reactions.

“Tony, did you do this?” Steve asked incredulously, turning toward him.

“Yep! I was bored, and Christmas is coming up, so why not?” Tony nonchalantly answered, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, you could have cleaned up,” Clint stated, grabbing a handful of jellybeans from one of the many containers of candy that were still on the kitchen counters. The rest of Avengers started grabbing plates and knives, carving into the palace, while Steve called their friends, saying that they should share the palace. In the confusion of obtaining a piece of gingerbread, Tony met Thor’s eyes. Since he had seen the palace, he had seemed to age, looking at it with a melancholy expression. As he looked at Tony, he mouthed ‘Loki?’, which Tony responded with a nod. He smiled as he saw Thor’s face brighten, who was glad that his adopted brother was interacting with his friends. 

Even though Tony didn’t share the same reason for wanting Loki around, he was glad the god had shown up. And he couldn’t wait for him to come back.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to have this either posted before or on Christmas, but some things came up, and that's why I'm posting it now.  
> I'm not sure how the idea of having Loki wanting to make gingerbread houses came to me, but I'm glad it did. I loved writing this, but I did have to look up some videos on how to make gingerbread houses. It's been years since I've made any, so if I was leaving anything out about how to make them, I'm sorry.


End file.
